Arcadius
Arcadius, better known as Cade, was a recurring character and an antagonist in the eighth season of . He was the world's first psychic who in death came to be known as the Devil and creator of Hell. Early History Prior to 750 B.C Arcadius was born in a village situated on an island in the Mediterranean. He was gifted with the ability to see into the minds of others as the world's very first psychic. He had used his powers to empathize and help others which led him to be loved by his fellow villagers. However, when he had used his powers to peer into a man's mind and saw his "impure" thoughts for a young woman in the village, he approached the man with an offer to help quell his "urges" using his gift. The man however was mortified and furious so instead he had turned the villagers against Arcadius. Together with a mob of villagers the man had Arcadius captured and burnt at the stake. In his final moments, Arcadius feeling anguish and betrayal at being unjustly murdered by the very people he helped, he let out a psychic blast, as he was set ablaze, that was so powerful that it created it's very own dimension which would come to be known as hell. Arcadius' soul resided in this new world of his and from then on he would collect the souls of the wicked who had died and feast on them. After 750 B.C After his death, other people born with the same gift as him were persecuted and exiled to the island he once inhabited to die. At some point two psychics named Sybil and Seline lived on the island and unbeknownst to Sybil, Seline was tricking her into luring men to the shores of the Island with their powers, not for their cargo but the bodies of the men themselves which she used to feed them. When Sybil tried to commit suicide after learning of Seline's lies and cannibalism Arcadius approached them. He offered them eternal life provided that they feast on the flesh of mortals for eternity while he harvests the souls of their victims. Seline agreed on both of their behalves and the Sirens were born. Throughout The Vampire Diaries Series Season Five In Gone Girl, Arcadius was not seen but is the reason behind Katherine Pierce's sentencing to Hell. Season Eight In An Eternity of Misery, Sybil reveals her backstory to Stefan while implying that this is what Arcadius wishes for her to do. She also reveals Cade's name and origins to Stefan. Through her flashbacks, Sybil informs Stefan that Cade was the world's first psychic. He was a kind man who used his powers to help his fellow villagers until one turned on him in fear, and rallied the village against him to burn him at the stake. In his dying moments, his anger at their betrayal caused him to unleash a psychic blast that created a new dimension that Cade's spirit controlled, a place that would be called Hell, where Cade punished the souls of the people who betrayed him as well as the souls of wicked people for eternity. Elsewhere as a bedtime story to Lizzie Saltzman and Josie Saltzman, Seline tells them the story of Arcadius. He also called forth Georgie's soul to hell when she was killed by Seline. In Detoured On Some Random Backwoods Path to Hell, Cade is summoned by Seline in an attempt to bargain for her and Sybil's freedom. She offers the twin siphon girls Lizzie and Josie Saltzman as replacements for the Sirens. Cade tells Sybil he is intrigued by the offer before Sybil makes a counter offer. Sybil offers Cade the Salvatore brothers as the willing replacements for the Sirens as they are powerful vampires with bloody histories. Damon masterminded the deal and convinced Stefan to accept in order to spare Caroline and Alaric's twin girls. Sybil reveals she secretly altered the deal so Cade allowed her to still be an immortal Siren, but is no longer bound for Hell, while Seline must still go to Hell as revenge for leaving Sybil in the Vault centuries ago. Cade accepted Sybil's deal, and granted Stefan a day left of freedom before his deal activates. In The Next Time I Hurt Somebody, It Could Be You, In Nostalgia's a Bitch, Sybil and Seline are sitting in a diner arguing and trying to make amends, moments later Cade walks inside and expresses his disappointment over their constant bickering. Shocked to see him, Cade reveals that the bell was rang enough to give him an appearance on earth. The Sirens attempt to convince Cade they could manage to work together, but Cade decline their offer and killed both sisters, consumed in hellfire. In You Made a Choice to Be Good, In What Are You?, In The Lies Will Catch Up To You, In It's Been a Hell of a Ride, Personality Firstly, Arcadius was shown to be a nice, decent and sociable person. He put on a sweet smile and walked among the villagers as one of them. Dealt with them as an equal with a good temper that all people around him knew as a marked trait for him. He also was a wise counselor who tried to use his psychic powers in mind reading to help people control their urges and tempt their impure desires until he got unjustly punished by his neighbors, that is when his temper grew bad and as he took his last breaths, he decided to make them all suffer for what they did to him. Embittered by his death, Cade became more quiet and subdued in his dealings with others, not showing empathy, and giving off a sinister air and having no qualms about tormenting others no matter how small or insignificant their "sin" was, even if such a deed was an accident. Cade also had no reluctance in entertaining the thought of warping innocent children into one day being the Siren's replacements. Cade lacks any of his original optimism and faith in humanity. Due to his death at the hands of his own people, his personality has been warped to the point that he delights in human suffering, as he tells Stefan that he wanted him as a servant ever since the Monterrey incident because he considers it a masterpiece. Cade doesn't just seek to punish and feed off the wicked but actively wants to corrupt those who would otherwise lead a decent and moral life. In his eyes, anyone who can be made to be wicked, is already wicked and to this end, he desires to have them tempted to fall from their moral path. In this regard, he lives up to his given nickname of "the Devil" which in some versions, is depicted as either a tempter and/or a fallen angel seeking to corrupt mankind. Physical Appearance Arcadius was of African descent, well built muscular man, about 6'6" tall, and looks to appear to be in his early thirties. He had a full lower lip, dark brown eyes, wide cheekbones and dark skin color. Powers and Abilities |-|Psychic= Arcadius possessed all the standard powers and abilities of a human/psychic, but at the moment of his death he had awakened a rare ability to create another dimension with a powerful psychic blast. An ability so unique that no other being with psychic powers has ever matched until Bonnie Bennett created her own psychic dimension at the moment of Enzo's death. Seline claims that Arcadius was the first psychic, born with the ability to look into the minds of others. This gift gave him great empathy towards others but would eventually cost him his life. In his final moments, he came to know true evil of men and upon his dying breath created an entire dimension with a psychic blast, an extreme display of power that altered the very cycle of life and death; this dimension was called Hell. |-|Spirit= As a spirit, Arcadius resides within his own dimension. He is capable of calling forth evil souls and can even deny them entry into the Other Side, forcing them into Hell, forever punished for their wicked deeds no matter how small. Since he is called 'The Devil', it is unlikely that he has ultimate control over the souls that pass over into the Afterlife (found peace), however the means of this have not been established. He can inhabit the limbo between the afterlife to communicate with those temporarily stuck in limbo. With a body of water, human sacrifice and fire, he can be temporarily summoned to the world of the living as an apparition. Some time later he was able to appear before Seline in a moment of her need and made a deal with her. He would grant immortality, youth and beauty to her and Sybil, creating the first Sirens, in return he commanded that they feast on human flesh while providing him the souls of humanity's worst. He would later extend the same gift of immortality to both Stefan and Damon Salvatore. However, in both cases, his subjects still physically die, giving them the opportunity to converse with Cade and, when finished, he is able to send them back, giving them their lives back. |-|Immortal= Cade took advantage of the ringing of the Mystic Falls Founders Bell. The device, if rung 12 times, has the power to kill the Sirens by unleashing hellfire for miles around, however, Cade was able to "pay a visit on Earth" since it was only rung 11 times (1 time shy of unleashing hellfire). Since he was dead and a spirit within his own dimension, it is currently unknown how he was able to become 'flesh'. Since his return he has shown to have retained his psychic powers. In addition, he can control his own hellfire, as his dimension is the psychic imprint of his own death. Since his resurrection, he is functionally immortal through unknown means, showing Damon that he is unfazed by fire all over his body, can rip his own heart out and could still function as if nothing happened. The only means to harm him is the blade of Arcadius, able to physically harm him, as well as kill him if stabbed fatally. Weaknesses Arcadius had the typical weaknesses of a human/psychic. Appearances Season Five * Gone Girl (Unseen Phenomena) Season Eight * An Eternity of Misery (Flashback) * Coming Home Was a Mistake (Mentioned) * Detoured On Some Random Backwoods Path to Hell (First Modern Day Appearance) * The Next Time I Hurt Somebody, It Could Be You * We Have History Together (Mentioned) * The Simple Intimacy of the Near Touch (Mentioned) * Nostalgia's a Bitch * You Made a Choice to Be Good * What Are You? * The Lies Will Catch Up To You * It's Been a Hell of a Ride ''(Death) * ''I Was Feeling Epic (Mentioned) Name *'Arcadius' is the latinized form of "Arkadios". It derives from an ancient Greek name meaning "of Arcadia". Arcadia was a region in Greece, its name deriving from "arktos" meaning "bear". This was the name of a 3rd-century saint and martyr.http://www.behindthename.com/name/arcadius *'Cade', in this case, derives from the name "Arcadius". Standing alone, it comes from a Welsh origin and is a diminutive form of Cadell. It means "small battle; spirit of the battle".http://babynames.allparenting.com/list/Welsh_Baby_Names/Cade/details/ Trivia *He is the oldest known character in both TVD and TO universe. *Cade shares some similarities to Qetsiyah: **They both were some of the most powerful people of their respective species (psychic and witch, respectively). **They both created a new race of supernatural species. **They both created dimensions of suffering based on desires of revenge. Cade saw the true evil within the villagers that burned him alive while Qetsiyah sought to punish Silas for his betrayal. **They both bestowed immortality upon great supernatural beings; Cade on two psychics (created Sirens) and Qetsiyah on a traveler witch (created Immortals). *Cade can bestow powers on those that enter into a pact with him, such as making psychics into Sirens, and making normal vampires like the Salvatore brothers immortal. However, his immortality seems only to be the ability to send a soul back to their body after they are killed. **Cade can also revoke the powers he grants to who he sees fit, as he used his powers to burn the two sirens, Sybil and Seline to death with no effort. He granted them their immortality, and proved that he could easily take their lives when he wanted to. 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